


What Was Lost and Found Again

by Assido_Mina



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, College, College Student Michelle Jones, College Student Peter Parker, Developing Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Polyamory, Quickly Established Peter/MJ, Rating May Change, The snapped students form a tight family and that's canon goddammit, What To Do When Your Two Crushes Die And Come Back To Life, after the Blip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 03:04:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20923124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Assido_Mina/pseuds/Assido_Mina
Summary: Or: What to do when your crushes start college seven years after you saw them die.They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and much as she doesn't want to believe it Cindy's learned that the saying is accurate. But seven years after the snap, and two years after the blip, would they even want to see her again? And more worryingly, can she take seeing them again?





	What Was Lost and Found Again

“I’ve never been to the MOMA before.”

MJ quirked her brow, looking up from her sketchbook across the aisle. “You live in New York City, how are you the one person that’s never been to the MOMA?”

Cindy shrugged, staring for a second too long before she looked away. “I’ve just… never been. My parents aren’t really big on art, so we just never went out on family trips or anything like that. And now I’m just too busy to go over to Manhattan for a day.”

“We are literally going over to Manhattan for the day right now.”

“You know what I mean!” Cindy laughed, “I just figured… you know, would you mind guiding me around? I mean, if you don’t mind, that is, I know that you usually hang around Peter and Ned on these trips.”

MJ hummed to herself, before she shrugged and resumed her sketch. “If you don’t mind not knowing what either of them are talking about, I only catch half of what they’re saying most of the time, and Peter barely takes a breath in between sentences. If that’s a problem.”

Cindy looked further down the bus, two rows in front of her and seeing the two of them in question close together, Peter in his own seat with his forehead resting on the backrest in front of him. He seemed… peaceful, for someone who normally went about a mile a minute.

“No,” She said, clearing her throat and looking out the window, “That’s no problem.”

She opened her mouth to say more, before Ned’s shout from further down the bus caught their attention and they saw him pointing out towards the city, and any other thoughts of what she could have had to say vanished completely. It wasn’t until the bus pulled over and everyone gawked at the destruction left behind by the alien ship that she realized that Peter had vanished without a trace.

It was only a few hours later that she saw half of her class disappear right in front of her, barely able to do anything more than pick up a dropped sketchbook in her shaking hands, a half-finished drawing of her on the page, covered in ash.

** **

* * *

** **

Things were different, coming back from death. You tried to wake up in the morning, go back into the same routine that you used to have, back when different people sat in the seats next to you and your chest didn’t feel so heavy. Sometimes you looked around and could feel nothing but relief that you were back, and an immense pride that people were still, somehow, able to continue on while you weren’t there.

And other times, you heard a noise, or hit your arm against the door in just the wrong way, and for a few seconds you could swear that you felt that burning spreading through you again, not looking down at yourself in fear that you might see yourself drifting away on the wind again, never to return this time. 

Sometimes you could do nothing except lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, turning your head to look at the clock, then blinking and finding it’s twelve hours later. Time, much like everything else, didn’t really feel real anymore.

That was the world that Peter came back into, one where he knew what it was like to feel the life draining from your body. One where he knew the desperation forming in someone’s eyes as they looked down at you in their arms.

One where he knew the despair of knowing that you were leaving someone behind.

The day that he was brought back felt like getting his heart torn from his body entirely, barely having time to believe that he was back, he was breathing, he was _ here, _before he was burying his mentor, another person that he loved who he couldn’t save. He’d done his part in saving the universe, but Peter didn’t see much worth celebrating. Didn’t see much reason to smile at all really, and definitely not when he made it back to school.

Ned was fine, MJ was fine, he was shocked at how near _ ecstatic _he was at seeing Flash walking through the halls, but it couldn’t quite cover up the glaring absences that there were around them. Their places on the AcaDec team were still there, everyone who had been snapped given as many resources as they could to try and get back to normal. But they were the only four that they could each recognize at the meetings.

Sally, Abe, Charles, Cindy, their teammates, their _ friends _ had been left behind and had in turn left them behind, replaced by people who they could vaguely remember seeing walking out of middle schools, now suddenly as old and in some cases even taller than they were. It was strange for MJ to realize that the bookish little ten year old girl that she’d tutored in English was her classmate, even more that she was her new captain.

Needless to say, AcaDec didn’t quite elicit the same excitement that it did before. The sense of camaraderie was gone.

For the weeks following the blip the halls of the school were morose, heavy with the atmosphere of a combination of loss and reunification, siblings finding that they were the same age now, students realizing that their friends were off in college now, finding out that old girlfriends and boyfriends had long since moved on, when some had been planning for what they were going to do for valentines day what felt only yesterday. Those that came back stuck together, it was rapidly made clear that as much as they wanted to believe otherwise, they were all that they had.

Betty had always been somewhat close with them, social butterfly that she was, so it was no real surprise that she took to sitting with them more often than not when their schedules lined up. But even with everything that had happened, all the feelings that were swirling through their minds, there was still nothing stranger to Peter, MJ and Ned than the fact that their table had gained an unexpected addition. Sure, Flash was on the team with them, had been going through school with them for years, but they didn’t think it was unfair to think that he still wouldn’t have wanted to be caught dead with them. But even though their bodies hadn’t aged five years, it felt like their minds had aged a thousand, and after everything that had happened, it just felt like petty rivalries weren’t worth the trouble anymore, not between them.

He kept needling at them though, especially Peter, but they could tell it just wasn’t in him that much anymore, it seemed like as much of an attempt to get things back to normal as anything else. 

“Hey dweebs. Betty,” Flash said, balancing his tray in one hand and pointing at each of them in turn before he nodded and took his seat at the end of the table, “I’m eating my lunch here today, don’t make a thing about it.”

“Third day in a row,” MJ mumbled.

“Why are you eating lunch here?” Peter asked, flicking his chin across the room, “I thought you sat at that table over there?”

Flash swallowed, staring at him for a moment longer before he huffed out a mirthless laugh and took a bite out of his sandwich. “They don’t get it, all this. I feel like a fucking zoo exhibit sitting over there.”

Betty sighed, “I felt the same way in the AV Club, everyone just… stares at you, I hate it.”

“Exactly.” He nodded, sniffing and reaching for his soda. “And as weird as all of you might be, at least you don’t look at me like I’m some… clown that you’re waiting to see dance.”

“We’ve seen you dance Flash,” Ned laughed, “I don’t really want to see it again.”

“Oh Ned’s got jokes now,” He snorted, his smile carrying so much less malice than they were used to, “Go ahead, tell me another one.”

“He can’t,” MJ said, looking up from her book and smirking, “They’re all at the end of the table today.”

Flash laughed, for what felt like the first time in weeks, until tears pooled in the corners of his eyes and he swiped them away with a watery smile. “I was… I was thinking about doing something at home, but I don’t really know what. Do… do you guys want to come around? Even you Parker.”

“Well,” Peter said, leaning closer, “What do you want to do?”

Flash looked over at him, mouth opening and closing before he answered, “I don’t know. I don’t know…”

** **

* * *

Curled up on the couch in a mansion in the suburbs wasn’t how they saw their night going, but something in Flash’s eyes when he’d asked them to come around made it hard to refuse, even for MJ. And he was one of them now, part of that morbid connection that they all shared, that _ meant _ something.

“Not that I’m not thrilled to be sitting in your house watching a movie,” MJ drawled, not even pretending that she was paying attention to the screen, “But why are we watching _ ‘Hobbs and Shaw’?” _

“Because I was really looking forward to seeing this before… you know…” Flash shrugged, stepping back and falling into the couch next to them. “I’ve waited five goddamn years to see this movie, and I’m gonna watch it. If, you know, that’s cool and everything.”

“Go ahead,” Peter said, shrugging and smiling, “Guess we’ve all got some catching up to do.”

“Damn right,” Flash replied, grinning and hitting the play button.

** **

“Well, that sucked.” Flash tossed the remote onto the other chair, letting himself go boneless in his seat and groan up at the ceiling, “Five years… I waited five years…”

“Technically it only feels like we waited a few months,” Ned said, looking between all of them, “Right? It still feels weird though.”

"I had a concert I was supposed to go to with my sister," Betty said, "Half the band got dusted too, so no one really got what they wanted."

Peter and MJ looked at each other before they looked away again, it was fairly obvious what their plans had been, but they were the same plans that they'd had for the last year that they'd been friends: think about where to ask the other out, before chickening out and never doing it. They hadn't been intent on breaking the cycle.

"Yeah, well," Flash sighed, getting up and walking to the kitchen counter, "Whatever, not like we missed much. Bet everyone else was too busy moping to do anything cool."

"We're catching up on our moping time," Peter said, standing up and jogging over to him, "What are you looking for man?"

"Nothing," Flash answered, "Go back to the couch Parker."

"Are you su-"

_ "Yes, _I'm sure," He sighed, turning around and rifling through the cabinets, "Fuck sake."

Peter nodded slowly, backing away towards the couch. Without looking where he was going, he felt his hip bump an end table and knock the picture frames off to the side, wincing at the sound of breaking glass echoing through the house.

Everyone was silent as Flash turned around, eyebrow cocked as he rounded the counter and walked towards a stock still Peter, kneeling down briefly to pick up the shattered frame at his feet.

"I-I'm so sorry Flash! I'll pay for that, I swear!" Peter said, faltering when he saw the two people in the centre of the frame, "Are those your parents?"

"Yep," Flash replied, popping the 'p', "I thought you broke something valuable. They won't see this, don’t worry about it."

"Still I-" Peter paused, looking up at Flash, "What do you mean?"

Flash shrugged. "They're always out, they probably don't even remember what this place looks like." He looked around at their blank stares, before he scoffed, "Business trips, you act like your parents don't work or anything. Or guardians I guess, don't give me shit for that Parker."

“Wait,” MJ said, her attention now fully on the two of them, “When was the last time that you saw them?”

He opened his mouth to answer, before he closed it again and looked away, his arms crossing in an obvious show of defence. “...Before I was dusted.”

“W-” Betty gaped, struggling to find words before she cleared her throat, “You haven’t seen them once since you came back?”

“Don’t give me that face,” He sighed, pushing past Peter and snatching the remote up again, “It’s no big deal, so don’t _ make _ it a big deal. Let’s just watch another movie, ok?”

“Ok,” Peter said, exchanging a look with Ned before he took his seat again, “Whatever you want man.”

“Good. I heard The Mummy was shit, so we’re going to watch that now.”

** **

May opened the door, smile brightening as she recognized four of the people standing in front of her as well as one new face she hadn’t seen before. “Come on in kids, I’ll be out of here in a couple minutes. Just wanted to make sure that all of you were taken care of, just in case Petey forgot his keys again.”

Peter groaned, “May that hasn’t happened in at least a week!”

“I’m sure it hasn’t, and I’m very proud,” She laughed, ruffling his hair before she turned to Flash, “And who is this handsome boy? I can’t leave without making sure you’re not holding them hostage!”

He laughed awkwardly, finger playing with a loose thread on his pant leg. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m… I’m Flash.”

In an instant her eyes hardened, a question already burning in her throat before Peter touched her arm, shaking his head with a small smile. “He’s Flash, and we invited him. _ I _invited him.”

She nodded slowly, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile onto her face again. They were going to have to talk more that night, she was owed an explanation, but she wouldn’t let that stop her from being hospitable. “Well, if you’re invited then I’m sure you’re a wonderful young man. You can make yourself at home.”

He nodded, stepping into the apartment and holding his gaze on the floor until she left, her goodbyes much more pleasant to everyone else. He had self-awareness, he knew he probably deserved it. He didn’t expect it to be _ that _ bad though.

“She looked like she wanted to skin me.”

MJ snorted, shoving past him and throwing herself onto the couch, legs finding their way into Peter’s lap and her back pressing up against Ned’s shoulder, “Are you surprised? You were going for the world record in being a little shit.”

“Yeah but… Parker? It wasn’t _ that _ bad was it?”

“Oh I told her all the time about what an asshole you were, I’m surprised she didn’t say anything else. But… well, after everything it kinda feels like all that doesn’t really matter now.” Peter smiled, flicking his head at the seat next to Betty. “What _ does _ matter is starting this movie, so hurry up and sit down, ok?”

“Alright, fine, jesus. You act more like a mom than my mom.” 

“Well I’m home, so you’re just gonna have to shut up and watch aren’t you?”

Flash scoffed, but his smile said more about what he was truly feeling. “Whatever you say.”

** **

Betty and Ned left after the first movie, Betty having to get home and Ned making sure that she got home safely, leaving the three of them sitting in near silence for most of the second. It wasn’t an unpleasant silence, not heavy in the slightest, it just felt… content, like they didn’t actually need to say anything at all. Considering the three people that were sharing the space, a calm silence was just about a miracle, it definitely would have been an impossibility if things were the way they used to be. 

“You haven’t been wearing those stupid polo shirts,” MJ said, startling them both out of their concentration, “You’re wearing shirts with actual buttons all the way down now.”

Flash looked down at himself, counting the buttons and seeing yes, they did in fact go all the way down. “So? What’s that matter?”

She hummed, before leaning her head against Peter’s shoulder and closing her eyes. “Looks better. You don’t look like such a rich asshole anymore.”

“What do I look like now?”

Peter quirked the corner of his lip, “Like a slightly less upper-middle class asshole.”

Flash barked out a laugh, liking how it felt in his chest. “Where did you get the balls?”

“Stole them from the ash pile, they never even noticed.”

“Maybe you should have stolen some height instead, then Michelle wouldn’t have to break her neck just to grind up on you like this.”

They blushed, but not to the same extent that he was used to. Interesting. And infuriating.

“MJ.”

“Huh?” Flash glanced at her, seeing her still staring at the screen.

MJ looked up from Peter’s shoulder, nodding over at him. “Friends call me MJ.”

“Oh,” He said, looking back to the screen, “Ok.”

Eventually the second movie turned into the third, but before that could turn into a fourth MJ got up from the couch and stretched, yawning like a cat and sighing down at them. “I gotta get going, I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

“Oh I-I’ll walk you to the door,” Peter said, jumping up and falling in step with her. They paused at the threshold of his apartment, both unsure of what to say before he asked, “You need me to walk you back?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” She said, smiling for a moment before she turned around, “I’ll text you when I get back.”

“Ok…” He grinned watching her walk away, not closing the door until she turned into the stairwell and threw a lazy wave before she disappeared. It wasn’t until he closed the door and turned around that he remembered that he’d had another guest tonight. A guest who was currently wearing a shit eating grin.

“You two really need to handle that,” Flash said, “I cannot take another year of _ that, _ I swear to God.”

“We-” Peter groaned, “Shut up.”

“You’re lucky I’ve got to get going too.” Flash stood, popping his back and grabbing his coat. “I can make fun of you tomorrow instead, you’ll have a night to make peace with that.”

“Oh. Joy. You need me to walk _ you _ home?”

“I’ll call an Uber or something, just because my parents aren’t around doesn’t mean their credit cards aren’t.” Flash stopped by the door, stopping just short of opening it before he turned his head to look at Peter. “Hey Parker?”

“Yeah?”

“...Thanks. For tonight I mean. This was… this was good.”

“Yeah…” Peter nodded. “Yeah it was.”

“Seriously though, you two need to handle your shit. It would piss off a couple of the new kids and I really want to see that.” Flash shook his head, opening the door and laughing before he stepped out, “You’re really testing my patience.”

** **

* * *

Evidently it was testing theirs as well, the two of them throwing caution to the wind and becoming a couple barely two months after they’d popped back into existence, knowing more than anyone ever should just what can happen in an instant. If death could come for them that quickly, then they needed to take as much advantage of life as they could. Suddenly her nervousness and his guilt over his secret didn’t really seem to matter that much, and, for the first time since everything had gone to hell, things were starting to feel not just good, but like they were _moving_ _on._

Of course, a month later he stumbled into her room with a stomach full of buckshot, tearing his mask off as soon as he slipped in through the window and scared her half to death, barely even aware of his wounds as he fisted his hands in his hair and let tears pour down his face.

“It should have been me,” He mumbled, the pain in his stomach dimming to a dull throb as she squeezed his hand, something to keep him anchored and _ whole, _“I was holding it. I was holding it, and I could’ve… but I…”

He’d never told her what had happened on Titan, hadn’t even told her that he was Spiderman, which in hindsight was maybe something he should have taken care of before he crawled through her window and got blood all over her carpet. Not that she hadn’t already suspected, but it still would have been nice to get some sort of warning.

“I don’t know what happened,” She said, rubbing her thumb along the back of his hand, leaning closer until their shoulders were squeezed together, “But I know that I’m glad that you’re here. So is Ned, and Betty, and May, even Flash, but I guess he’d rather get dusted again than admit that.”

He snorted at that, morbid humor had always been a part of their generation but it had understandably been kicked up a notch in the last couple of months.

“Whoever it is that you’re talking about, and… I think I know who it is, I think they’d be happy that you were still here too.”

His lips found hers as though they’d been doing so for years, kisses growing heated with a desperation that they could hardly believe that they felt. Their first time was that night, and considering how he was still covered in blood it was surprisingly only _ mildly _ traumatizing. The kind of traumatizing that they might one day joke about, and indeed one that they eventually _ did _ joke about.

“Sometimes,” He said, wincing as he sat up in her bed hours later, sleep eluding them both no matter how hard they tried to find it, “Sometimes I think that I’m not cut out for it anymore. Being Spiderman, I mean.”

“Come on Peter,” MJ sighed, reaching for his hand again, “You can do it, I’ve seen y-”

“I know I _ can _ do it,” He said, voice so low that it was barely a whisper, “But I don’t think I _ want _ to anymore.”

It was the first time that he’d ever really told anyone that he was Spiderman.

It was also the last time that he put on the suit.

And time moved along, just like it always did.

** **

* * *

Time was, as they were aware by now, cyclical. There were certain things that you could always count on to happen over and over again, regardless of what else had changed in the world. Fast and Furious films kept coming out, Pixies albums were being recorded, and someone always had to try and bully Peter Parker.

Tutoring was something that most of the kids at Midtown Tech did at some point or another, it was a decent source of income and it always looked good on a college application, and even when he was hoping that being a vigilante was a part of his ten year plan Peter had been sure to build his application carefully. There was no telling what could happen after all, sometimes plans changed, sometimes_ people _changed.

Sometimes mentors die in front of you and leave emotional scars that take years to heal. There’s a lot of reasons to have a back up plan.

Peter had always enjoyed working with children, so the chance to help out some middle school students with science and math seemed like a good opportunity for everyone. Bright kids like Riri, Miles, they made him feel _ good _ about helping people, like he could make a difference as _ Peter, _ not just as Spiderman. Then there were kids like Brad Davis, cocky, impatient, and absolutely certain that he was smarter than his tutor without acknowledging _ why _ he needed a tutor in the first place. In private Peter had thought of him as a little shit, though he’d felt terrible about it.

Five years later, he no longer felt bad for thinking that.

Brad was abrasive, cocky, Flash was ashamed to admit that he was reminded of himself when he looked at him, and it only made him close off more. He’d seemed more annoyed than anything that they were taking back their places on the AcaDec team, though within a day he’d already decided that he wasn’t going to give MJ a hard time like he would the others. All of them _ instantly _ knew why, and when anger had flashed through Peter’s mind he’d had to remind himself that he was _ Spiderman, _and Spiderman doesn’t go around assaulting people because they’re attracted to people that he’s too scared to admit he’s attracted to himself.

He’d poked fun at Flash’s parents, laughed when Ned was late in the mornings because he needed a little more time to mentally prepare since everything had happened, he even had some things to say about _ Betty _ whenever she walked by, but _ Peter… _incidentally Peter wasn’t the only one who remembered their tutoring sessions, and apparently it had given him quite the chip on his shoulder. Every question that he got wrong got a mocking round of applause, every stumbled answer in class a show of laughter, everywhere Peter turned his head there he was, with a smug smile and a cruel look in his eye.

_ Spiderman doesn’t assault people. Spiderman doesn’t assault people. _

Of course, sometimes things work out in such a way that Peter genuinely considers the concept of karma, even if seeing the worst of the city, and indeed _ the universe _ has a habit of teaching him otherwise.

It was no secret to anyone really that Brad was attracted to MJ, but for some reason he didn’t make any move at first to _ do _ anything about it. He was cocky enough, and attractive enough much as Peter and Flash didn’t like admitting it, but apparently the experience of being _ nervous _ in MJ’s presence was very much a universal one. Asking Michelle Jones out on a date wasn’t something you could just walk up and _ do, _ it took timing, planning, and a _ lot _ of psyching yourself up.

Unfortunately, the amount of time spent psyching himself up had been about a month and a half. About two weeks into Peter and MJ’s relationship, that had up until now remained a secret, though not quite intentionally. 

Thus, when Brad walked up to her in the middle of the cafeteria with that telltale look in his eye that everyone got when their heart was clipped firmly onto their sleeve, Peter and Ned struggled to contain their grins, while Flash outright snorted to himself. MJ rolled her eyes, but schooled her expression well enough before she looked up at him.

“Hey, MJ,” He said, voice strong with the confidence of _ knowing _ that he was going to get what he wanted, “How are you?”

“I’m good,” She replied, corner of her lip quirking before she forced it down again, “What’s up?”

“Well, I was thinking-”

Flash leaned over to Peter, whispering, “There’s a change.”

“-you know, this Friday, I’ve got a break in my schedule, so I figured, ‘Why don’t I go out and do something?’”

“Oh yeah?” She asked, nodding along with transparently faked excitement, “What are you going to go do?”

“I was thinking, you and me, how about we go catch a movie this Friday? I’ll pick you up, we have a good time, then I drop you back whenever.” He flashed his best smile, the kind that people _ fawned _ over. “What do you say?”

She stared at him blankly, barely even blinking before she threw her head back in a laugh that startled even her friends, echoing around the cafeteria and ensuring that all eyes were fixed securely on them. “Hey, Peter,” She said, gesturing him to get closer, “Come here.”

Leaning forward, he yelped as she grabbed the scruff of his shirt and almost dragged him over the table, slamming her lips into his and slipping her tongue into his mouth, other hand fisting in his hair and tugging harshly, the moan that she swallowed making heat race through both of their bodies. If Flash wasn’t enjoying the absolute _ firestorm _ of emotions shooting over Brad’s face he might have vomited at the sight.

MJ pulled back, cheeks burning and her lips swollen, turning back to Brad and taking her time clearing her throat._ “No.” _

Needless to say, Peter and MJ’s relationship was no longer an unintentional secret after that point.

And needless to say, Brad no longer gave her a pass. Not that she was one to care anyway.

** **

* * *

Of course, they should have taken into account just _ how _ temperamental Brad could be, which was why when Peter, MJ and Flash were walking to class the next month they weren’t overly surprised to see him waiting for them, though they _ were _surprised at the three other students that he had hanging around with him.

Peter had been bullied enough, he knew how scenarios like this went.

“Aww there they are, the Three Musketeers,” He shouted, clapping his hands and walking towards them, “And you two are holding hands, how cute!”

“Goodie,” MJ drawled, “Just what I wanted to deal with today.”

“Don’t be like that, I was just surprised! Wasn’t sure if you two would be able to stomach that much contact,” He laughed, “Should I even ask if you managed to fuck her yet Parker?”

MJ might not have had super hearing, but she could _ hear _ Peter clenching his teeth together in anger, could see his nostrils flaring and his knuckles whitening on his other hand. She squeezed their shared hands together for a moment, before she said, “Yeah he did actually. Probably going to again tonight. You want us to call you so you don’t feel alone?”

“Wow, that _ is _ impressive, good job!” It might not have been audible to anyone else, but Peter could tell his heart rate had sped up, stuttering out a beat different to the norm. He was _ angry, _ and Peter allowed himself a small smirk at that. At least until he kept talking. “And coming from such a flake too, I’m surprised you’re even still _ in _ school.”

Peter’s eyes widened when he saw the slips of paper held in his hand, just barely holding himself back from reaching for them and focusing on keeping himself under control. “You should really stop Brad.”

“Oh come on, we’re just having fun here! Let’s see…” He flipped through the pages, grin widening with each one. “Quit all your clubs, in detention every month, _ bad boy. _A family emergency? What, did your grandma fall down the stairs or something?”

Flash growled deep in his throat. “His _ uncle _ was _ murdered.” _

“Oh,” Brad said, shrugging to himself, “Bummer.” 

The three cronies behind him were all chuckling amongst themselves, but Peter knew an attack stance when he saw one. They were trying to goad him, and he had half a mind to let them, just to see what would happen.

“Brad,” Flash said, looking about as angry outwardly as Peter felt inwardly, “Shut. The fuck. _ Up.” _

“Don’t worry, I'm getting to you,” He laughed, “Really surprised that you’re going to bat for him considering he’s the one that kept you from being number one. Gotta tell you, those grades are depressing compared to his.”

“Yeah? The hell would you know about good grades?”

“Oh I’m pretty sure my grades are just fine,” He said, smirking viciously, “My parents haven’t left yet, so I must be doing something right.”

“Mother_fucker!” _ Spider-Sense be damned, Peter hadn’t been expecting Flash to charge right into Brad, taking them both down to the ground with a not wholly terrible tackle. As soon as the initial surprise wore off however it was apparent that Brad was the better fighter, easily brushing off Flash’s flailing punches and sending his fist right into his stomach, tossing him off and straddling him to keep going.

Peter took a step forward before one of Brad’s cronies shoved him back, warning him to keep out of it “Or things will get ugly.”

_ Oh screw it, I’m not Spiderman anymore. _

MJ detached her hand from his, knowing what he was going to do and agreeing with every bit of it, but she hadn’t been prepared for the crack that would echo off the walls when Peter threw his head forward into his obstacle’s nose, all semblance of fighting dropping out of him as he collapsed to his knees and held his hands in front of his obviously broken nose, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Peter knew he couldn’t just start doing flip kicks out of nowhere, he was pissed off, not an _ idiot. _ But just because he couldn’t fight like Spiderman didn’t mean that he couldn’t fight _ period. _The second one threw a punch at him that he decided to take on the chin just so it was easier to explain the fight, but he still decided to send his foot sailing up between their legs to smash into the most treasured part of a teenage boy. The last of the cronies threw a wild punch that wouldn’t have done much to him anyway, but he ducked under it to grab their elbow and pull, dropping to one knee and dragging them over his shoulder, hip bone smacking loudly against the hard linoleum. He’d always had trouble getting the hang of it with Tony, he was happy that the practice finally paid off.

Getting up, he could see that Flash’s arms were already starting to bruise up, Brad still throwing punches wherever he could and enjoying taking his time. Peter had been angry, but he had still remained somewhat detached, it was never good to fight angry when he could do what he could do. But seeing Flash grunting in pain, trying to fight his way out from under Brad, he could admit that he was _ very _ angry at this moment.

Grabbing Brad by his shoulders, he pulled him off of Flash easily and sent him stumbling back into the lockers, stepping between the two of them and exhaling heavily. “Walk away,” Peter said, pointing at Brad with one hand and clenching the other into a fist, “Just walk away.”

“What?” Brad scoffed, “You afraid of getting knocked on your ass?”

“I’m afraid of what’ll happen if you try.”

Brad growled, stepping forward and sending his fist cracking against Peter’s temple hard enough for his vision to swim for a moment before it corrected itself, no doubt going to leave a bruise behind that would last at least a day or two. Stepping into position to swing another, he swung only to hit empty air, Peter ducking underneath the blow and thrusting his fist into Brad’s stomach hard enough for his feet to leave the ground, barely touching the floor again before Peter followed with a left hook right into the joint of his jaw, spinning him in place and slamming his head into the metal of the lockers hard enough to make the door buckle. Slumping down to the floor, Brad looked around for a moment before his eyes rolled back and he went limp, the echoing of the slammed lockers fading out and leaving only a heavy silence.

Peter looked around them, from the four of their attackers either limp or groaning, to the wide-eyed stares of the thirty students watching them. Looking back to MJ and Flash, he was surprised to see the same look on their faces, though he supposed that neither of them had ever seen him fight before. And to be fair, _ he _ couldn’t remember the last time he’d fought out of the suit.

“Uhh…” He said, shaking his hand out and flashing a nervous smile, “Whoops?”

** **

Flash ended up with a black eye and a lot of bruising, though he got off with a stern talking to.

Peter dislocated his finger when he punched Brad, and was so distracted that he reset it himself in the middle of the principal’s office, earning assorted reactions of disgust and concern from everyone present. According to everyone who had been watching and the student records that the staff picked up, it was clear that he wasn’t the instigator, but he still got three weeks detention and an additional two weeks of being grounded at home (It had initially been a full month, but after Peter told May about Brad bringing up Ben and Flash’s parents she nodded and took it down to two weeks.)

Brad ended up losing one of his molars and getting a concussion, and in what was surely a first for the schooling system was also suspended for two weeks while they tried to figure out how he’d managed to get access to student records. He was also kicked from the AcaDec team by vote, but by then Peter, MJ, Flash and Ned had all decided that it wasn’t what they wanted to be a part of anymore anyway.

Their old team had graduated three years ago, and as nice as some of the new members had turned out to be, it just wasn’t _ their _team.

After that incident Brad saw fit to leave them all alone, the rest of their days in highschool over the next two years passing by without major incident. Flash grew closer with all of them, showing a territorial attitude around them that would have annoyed MJ if she didn’t know exactly where he was coming from, and with their forces combined it was easy to convince Betty and Ned to just hurry up and go out to coffee together, because for the first time Peter and MJ could fully understand just how _ annoying _they must have been to spend time with without addressing their mutual attraction.

When Peter told Flash and Betty that he used to be Spiderman there wasn’t as much surprise as he’d been expecting, and after Flash told him that he’d ‘Ruined his hero, thanks so much for that’, things went back more or less to normal. Or as normal as their world allowed them at least.

As their last year at highschool drew to a close, college applications were mailed off, and though they were certain that they had done everything in their considerable ability to apply themselves, there was still that lingering doubt of whether or not they were actually good enough or if they’d just been faking for these last couple of years. But soon enough, and not soon enough at the same time, the letters came in the mail and were torn into with a feverish hunger, wanting to know if all of this toil and effort had been worth it in the end.

It had.

They’d all discussed together that they wanted to stay as close together as possible, and though they all still had their favorites, had been talking about them for years, their interests synched up more often than not. Flash and MJ had Harvard, Ned and Peter had MIT, and though Betty was going to be a state over in Connecticut for Yale it was still only a two hour drive, a drive that they were all separately willing to make to stay connected. There was a certain level of trust that they’d built up between each other, a feeling of _ belonging, _ they would hesitate to call it a _ family _ but they also wouldn’t outright deny it either. 

And soon enough they were packing their boxes and shipping their bare few belongings off to their respective campuses and taking their last looks at their childhood bedrooms, though they were sure to come back and visit. It felt like a step in a new beginning of their lives, something that they’d fought so hard for and almost not expected to come out the other side. And finally, after all the work, all the sweat, all the blood and all the nightmares, they finally felt like they’d made it through, that their worlds weren’t going to be flipped upside down any longer.

How wrong they were.

**Author's Note:**

> I never actually saw Endgame, hope that's not too apparent.
> 
> Now, here's the kind of angsty Peter/MJ/Cindy I think I mentioned I was working on, originally I was going to write it all up and make it one chapter but I feel like it won't get as many views that way, so here we are! I'll try and update soon, but I've got a LOT of things I want to try for Nanowrimo if time will allow me, so we'll just have to wait and see!
> 
> Anyway, you know the deal, please comment and tell me what you liked, what you think is going to happen, comments are like a little bullet of inspiration right into my spine, nothing makes me work faster! See you on the next :3


End file.
